First Nations Partnerships

NACG is committed to the early involvement and collaborative participation of First Nations communities. This commitment has garnered a number of successful partnerships with First Nations groups and has enabled NACG and its First Nations partners to deliver high value construction and mining services to its clients. These partnerships have also provided substantial long-term benefits to local First Nations’ communities.

Over our 65 years of service, NACG has successfully worked with numerous First Nations communities on projects across Canada, including the Fort McKay Band on a joint venture to supply equipment and manpower in support of a number of infrastructure services in the Wood Buffalo region, and the Attawapiskat First Nation (AFN) to support the development of the Victor Diamond Mine for De Beers in Ontario.

In April of 2017, NACG launched an exciting new joint partnership between Dene Sky Site Services Ltd. and North American Enterprises Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of North American Energy Partners.

Having started from modest beginnings in 2005 as a privately-owned First Nations business, Dene Sky made substantial in-roads into Alberta’s petroleum and construction industries by providing skilled labour and specialized equipment in earthworks, road construction and maintenance, specialized welding, site development, plant maintenance and labour services.

Now, with the addition of NACG’s comprehensive systems, maintenance and operations expertise, the new company – named Dene North Site Services, has the ability to expand on that initial success even further, reaching broader markets and working on larger projects.

In November of 2018, NACG acquired a 49% ownership interest in Nuna Logistics. With the majority interest held by the Kitikmeot Corporation, a wholly owned business arm of the Kitikmeot Inuit Association, the partnership provides mutual benefits to both parties through access to broader equipment fleets, experienced field personnel, and expanded services such as NACG’s growing external maintenance offering. The partnership also diversifies both companies into other commodity areas and infrastructure-related projects that involve major earthworks.

Nuna Logistics is the largest Inuit-owned heavy civil construction, earthworks, and mine construction contractor in Canada, and has established itself as the incumbent contractor in Nunavut and the Northwest Territories.

In November of 2018, NACG entered into a newly formed partnership with the Mikisew Group of Companies, which is directly owned by the Mikisew Cree First Nation. Working together, the Mikisew North American Limited Partnership will provide construction and mining services to oilsands customers.

The Mikisew Cree are the largest First Nation of the five Athabasca Tribal Nations, and NACG is excited to build on this relationship in the coming years.

Moving forward, NACG will continue to actively seek out First Nation alliances across Canada to create partnerships on large scale mining and construction projects.

NACG is very proud of its history of developing and maintaining successful relationships with First Nations groups.